A beautifully made video that makes me want to head out on my bicycle and hit some waves: #headwindhaters

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I don’t share quite the same dislike for Vegas as Al Humphries, but I would much rather spend the night under the stars in Zion National Park than spend a night in a smoky casino (link to video).

“Seek out what magnifies your spirit”. Just one of the great bits of advice in this thought-provoking post (link to post).

The high and low points of living a nomadic lifestyle for 5 years (link to post).

It’s not often that I’m inspired by a BBC News article but photographer Ami Vitale is featured in a great piece. The bit that stuck with me:

“So my advice to those who dream about this is to find a story close to you – maybe even in your backyard – and make it yours. You don’t need to travel abroad. What you do need to do, however, is tell a story better than anyone else can, using your own unique perspective.”(link to BBC article)

It’s difficult to imagine war in Europe now but this post brings home how easily that could become a reality. (link to pictures)

Great work by Brandon Chase (great name!) on completing the 255km Besparmak trail in Cyprus in the fastest recorded time of 4 days 9.5hrs. (link to Facebook result). That time looks like it could be bettered if anybody fancies it. I’d recommend doing it before the summer heat arrives.

I can’t quite believe that a whole year has passed since I started the Adventure with Adam blog. This feels like a good time to take a look back to the beginning of 2017.

For months, I had wanted to start my own blog. After reading the likes of Alistair Humphreys, Tom Allen and Dave Cornthwaites blogs, I was inspired to make a go of it myself. But then came the self-doubt.

I am too old to be starting a blog. It’s 2017, I’m far too late to start blogging. These guys have done much cooler stuff than me. I’m just an imposter.What if my mates see it and take the piss? What if my boss sees it? Balls to this.

And so on. These thoughts lingered for months before I confronted the doubt, paid for the domain name and created this blog from scratch. Even when I first hit the publish button on my first posts, the doubt remained. It turns out the doubt doesn’t go away completely. You just learn to live with it.

Why start a blog?

The main reason I started the blog was that at the time I was pretty bored and fed up with my job (sound like a familiar story?) At the time, I was working in a role where I recruited Officers for the British Army. My job was to travel around the UK and give talks at universities and schools to convince people to be like me and join the Army. Every other day I would talk about how awesome my job was and about all of the cool and exciting things I have done. The rest of the time I would sit at home in my pants and play Battlefield on the PlayStation.

No longer was I actually doing the cool stuff I had joined the Army to do. In the Army, the more senior you get, the more time you spend sat behind a computer. This is fine for many people but at 29 years old, this wasn’t what I wanted.

Using adventure and travel to create change

To keep some excitement in my life I had started heading off on my own expeditions.

I received some great responses from my recruitment presentations. It appeared that people enjoyed what I had to say and (as far as I could see) they looked entertained and more interested in my journey. Slowly it dawned on me that maybe I’m not an imposter. What if I started to write down the cool and exciting things I did? What is the worst that could happen?

When I started writing, I didn’t really have a clear direction of where I wanted it to go. I still don’t if I am being honest. I wanted to talk about travel and my adventures but why would anybody want to read about that? Creating my own personal space on the interweb to write and express my thoughts and opinions was extremely daunting and scary. I sold the Playstation and made this blog my place to spend my spare time.

Can a blog change your life?

Over the last 12 months, I have developed and changed more than I would ever have anticipated. Creating this blog was just one of the contributing factors to the changes in my life. By putting my writing into the world, I have met some amazing people. So far this blog has created opportunities that I never envisaged. It is still a work in progress and hopefully, it is improving with each passing month.

My initial aim was to publish at least one post a week, something I am happy to have achieved. I am proud to say that this is my 60th post.

Over the last year, I have travelled to 11 countries, moved from the UK to Cyprus and decided to hand my notice in at work. In just under a year, I will no longer be employed by the British Army but I am still determined to continue to do cool and exciting things.

This blog alone hasn’t changed my life but it has certainly helped me to make some pretty big decisions that will change my path forever.

Here is a look back at my adventures of 2017.

January

After recovering from Decembers 220-mile walk through England, I welcomed the year with a group of great friends in Cornwall. Coastal walks with the dog and beers in country pubs. A perfect start to 2017.

Later in the month, I went skiing in Val d’Isère for the first time on an actual mountain. Just one of the many perks of being in the Army is being able to go skiing in the Alps for a week for less than £150. I wrote one of my first posts about the skitrip.

One of the many pictures taken from my crashes on the slopes. I’m sure it’s normal to have your skis facing the sky…

February

I attended the Adventure Travel show in London for the first time and got to meet the awesome Dave Cornthwaite. I had a really interesting conversation with him and was inspired to make a real effort with the blog. If you are reading this before Jan 20th 2018, you can attend this years adventure travel show too. I would highly recommend it. Here is a link to the website: http://www.adventureshow.com

Dave with his scooter that he took across Japan.

Work took me across the whole of the UK giving presentations. The highlight was spending a fair amount of time at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It was the first time I had been back there for years. It was strange to be a Captain, walking around without having to march and eating in the officer’s mess and not the students dining area. I had a great time training here in 2010-2011 but there is possibly an element of looking back with rose-tinted spectacles.

After a STAG do in Wales I went for a wander on the Brecon Beacons alone for the first time. Again, it was the first time I had been back here since my days on the Platoon Commanders Battle Course. Brecon is much nicer when you’re not carrying 50kg+ of equipment of the steepest hills on a race against the other Platoons.

Take a picture at the top of the mountain. Get home and realise that your pocket is open. Que piss taking from friends, pockets today submarine hatches tomorrow.

March

Work took me to Northern Ireland, where I gave a load of presentations (including one at Rory McIlroy’s old school). I took the opportunity to visit a load of Game of Thrones filming locations. Castle Black is pretty cool in real life.

March was a month of spending time with good friends. I was the master of ceremonies at a friend’s wedding and watched another pal win in a blue-collar boxing fight in Hull. I often forget how much I enjoy being in the UK, especially in Yorkshire.

If you look closely at the ceiling, you will see the blood splattered on the roof from a previous fight.

This was also a month of making new friends. I attended my first Yes Tribe wild camp on the outskirts of London after meeting Dave Cornthwaite a few weeks earlier. Here I met a number of awesome people such as Pip Stewart, George Beasley, Sarah Lister and Laura Maisey. These guys have done some awesome expeditions between them and their positivity is infectious. Spending time with these guys had such a positive influence over my direction for the coming year.

April

This was a crazy busy month. On the first weekend, I set off back to the Brecon Beacons but this time with Lucia and the pooch for a wild camp. We had glorious weather without the slightest hint of rain. Even with the perfect conditions, I failed in my duty as an adventurer extraordinaire to start a fire. Lucia was equally annoyed but at the same time slightly pleased that should take the piss out of my lack of fire making ability. I blamed the wet wood and sheepishly poured us some wine that I had carried up the mountain. Cleo, my dog, had a great night snuggled between us in the two-man tent.

I was lucky to get to go skiing again with the Army, this time in Val Thorens. This time I thought I was pretty much a professional and attacked the red and black routes with gusto. Quickly I was brought back to reality when I ventured off-piste into some deep powder. Que a massive crash, a solitary ski making its way down the mountain alone and I was left stranded in the deep snow.

At the end of the month, I set off on what was possibly the best trip of the year to Nepal on a trekking expedition to the Dolpa region of the Himalaya. I have written a fairly detailed account of my time there in these blog posts.

May

The majority of my time in Nepal was during this month. I made a video of the expedition that you can watch here.

I arrived back in the UK in time for another good friend’s wedding in the beautiful surrounding of North Yorkshire. Some of my favourite highlights have been spending time with friends in the UK. As fun as the travels is, there is no place quite like home.

Second wedding of the year. They are dropping like flies.

June

Another solo wild camping trip with my dog Cleo, this time to the South West coast at Swanage. Here is Cleo enjoying the sea views.

I spent a week working in Germany with their Mortar specialists. Seeing the 120mm Mortar in action was pretty epic. The longest day of the year is in June and this year I was on exercise as an instructor on the British Army Mortar course. There is nothing quite like dropping Mortar bombs on a summers day.

This was also the month I made the decision to accept a job offer in Cyprus. A big change but a familiar one after living there from 2013-2015.

July

More dog walks in the UK before the big move to Cyprus at the end of the month. I lived in Wiltshire with Lucia for a year and we tried to make the most of the countryside at every opportunity.

One of the best weekends of the year was spent on canoes on the River Wye. Cleo joined us for some paddling. She had a whale of a time, jumping out at the bank and chasing the ducks.

I finished my final course as a Mortar instructor and moved out to Cyprus early to take over our new house. As a welcome to Cyprus, I entered a 1.9km open water race. Before this, the longest I had swum in the sea was around 100 metres. I was happy to finish the race and didn’t finish last which was a result.

Not sure if I am natural build to be a long distance swimmer…

After quickly settling in at Cyprus, I showed my new workmates the old cliff jumping spots I used to go to in 2013. Being back in Cyprus was initially strange. So much was the same but there were lots of new faces. The things that will never change in Cyprus is the epic weather and food.

August

Lucia joined me in Cyprus (after I had unpacked all of our possessions). We had some time off from work so we spent days learning to stand up paddle board in the sea. Living on a Mediterranean Island is awesome for almost all sports.

With little notice, I decided to set myself the challenge of cycling around the coast of Cyprus. I left my house in the south of the Island and made my way around the Island in 5 days. Cyprus is a fascinating country, particularly due to it being split by the Turkish occupation to the North. This adventure rekindled my love of cycle touring. I have aspirations to complete another long-distance cycle tour in the future. Watch this space.

At the most Northern and Western tip of Cyprus.

September

Cyprus is famous for its wine so it would be rude not to go to the famous Limassol wine festival.

After saving for months, I decided to invest in a new camera for my travels. My compact camera was great but it had limitations. I have always enjoyed taking photographs, particularly whilst travelling. Nothing quite beats an epic landscape vista. Armed with a new camera, Lucia, Cleo and I visited the waterfalls in the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus. This was when @adventurewithcleo created an account on Instagram. Cleo must have got really good on the phone as she posts pictures of her adventures and most of them are better than mine.

Just when I thought my days of soldiering were over, I was nominated to represent the company as the patrol commander in a 48-hour military skills competition. It involved navigating over arduous terrain to a number of stands where we would go through scenarios such as a strike operation, medical evacuation, a chemical attack and a raid. The team performed fantastically. It reminded me of why I joined the Army. It wasn’t to sit at a computer all day. It was to lead soldiers in the most challenging of environments.

October

I dusted the old rugby boots off for my first game in well over a year. I was aching for a good 24 hours after the game.

Over October and November, I was back in the UK on a course. As always, I made the most of this opportunity. First by booking tickets over one of the weekends to visit Poland with an old friend. Krakow is a fabulous city to visit. I would recommend it to everybody.

Auschwitz has always been a place that I have wanted to visit. I strongly believe that we must not forget the past atrocities that humans carried out. If we do, we are doomed to repeat them. Some reports would suggest that there are actions being carried out by states and actors in modern times that are comparable to the Holocaust. Two things struck me about Auschwitz. It’s proximity to the local town and its sheer size. It is huge! The scale of the operation the Nazi’s had here is almost unthinkable if it wasn’t still there today to act as a reminder.

November

Being in the UK, I had the opportunity to attend the Royal Geographical Society explore weekend. This is such a fantastic event, one I would recommend that anyone with an adventurous spirit must attend. I met some amazing people and made some quality friendships. To say I was inspired doesn’t even come close.

I had already booked a long weekend off with work as I arrived back in Cyprus. This time I was making the most of the cheap flights to Israel. At £19 return, it would be almost criminal not to go. A quick dash to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea completed what was a brilliantly busy month.

The Old City, Jerusalem.

December

After returning from the UK, I had made the decision that I was going to leave the Army. I had been considering it for months and the time felt right. To leave, you have to give 12 months notice so I handed it in.

As I finished work for the year, I booked a ticket to Georgia (the country). My aim was to travel slowly and take some landscape photographs. Georgia was an absolute gem of a surprise. Epic mountains, cheap beer and great food.

A year of change

2017 has been a year of change for me. At the beginning of 2017, I would never have expected to be in the place where I am now. These changes have come about through meeting new people, being inspired and pushing myself to try new things. I have made a huge decision to quit my job. It wasn’t one I made lightly. Luckily, I have amazing support from my wife, friends and family.

By leaving the Army I aim to bring more stability and control into my life. I can now live where I choose and spend more time with the people that mean the most to me. 2018 will be another year of surprises, that is for sure. There is one thing I can guarantee: It won’t be boring.

Waking up to email’s like this really grind my gears. “How to quit your job and explore the world”. Don’t get me wrong, viewranger is a great app. I use it all of the time when I’m in the mountains. But having this in my notifications got me thinking. How many people will believe that they have to be unemployed to live an adventurous life? Let me tell you why you don’t.

If you have opened this post, the chances are you are like me. Working in a full-time career with little time and space to head off on epic around the world adventures. I often sit in wanderlust at the adventure types that don’t have an employer or a career that requires you to work from an office in a particular location. There are pros and cons to both sides of these lifestyles. For me at this moment, I have chosen to be employed. To receive a wage and deliver a required set of results to my employer in exchange for the money into my bank account. This all sounds very boring but this is the lifestyle I have chosen to live.

Finding your purpose

Luckily I enjoy my job. Being an Officer in the British Army is genuinely a privilege. I get to command the most amazing people and I’m able to see, do and achieve things I never thought was possible. There are good and bad days for sure but on the whole, I bloody love it.

Early morning physical training from a few weeks ago in Cyprus. Being active is key to being happy.

To quit or not to quit…

Quitting your job and travelling the world may not be a viable option for you. Children, families, disabilities and money are common reasons to stay put. I completely get all of these. And maybe your right. Is it worth giving up your security and the life you live for uncertainty? To that question, I do not have the golden answer.

What I do have though is my own life plan. Instead of travelling the world all at once before I’m 30, I’m going to do it in small chunks throughout my life.

Planning adventures with a full-time job

If you have a full-time job and want to cycle around the world, you may need to quit your job. That is unless you are Mark Beaumont and can do it in under 80 days. Still, most employers would have a hard time giving you 80 days paid leave. There is more to adventure than simply following the crowd and feeling that the only answer to adventure is cycling around the world.

Making the most of the weekend is a great way to plan adventures when you have a full-time job. Between now and January, my calendar is pretty much full to the brim. I’ve got weekend trips booked to Poland and Israel to look forward to in the next 6 weeks. These weekends don’t have to cost much. My return flight to Israel was a £29 return. That’s less than a single train ticket from Bristol to London!

As a tight-fisted Yorkshireman, I am always looking to keep the costs down. To keep it cheap, book as far in advance as you possibly can. Once the flight is booked, the rest will fall into place from there.

Balance

I have to balance spending time doing silly and often arduous adventures with spending time with the people that want to see me (wife, parents, family, friends, dog etc). It’s difficult to get that balance right and I am still working on it. Sometimes I want to spend all of my time off on the arduous adventures. I’ve never actually done that and so far I’m so glad I haven’t. Spending time with my friends and family also means a lot to me. As I get older, I appreciate that time much more than I did in my early 20’s.

The key is finding your balance.

This Christmas time I have just under three weeks off from work. I have decided to spend 6 days (about 1/3 of my leave) on a solo adventure in the West Bank. I’ll also be spending 4 days with friends/family and the last 6 days of my leave on a not so arduous but equally fun trip to Iceland with Lucia.

Adventure doesn’t just mean expeditions

This trip to Iceland wouldn’t usually register as an adventure in my mind. However, it does to Lucia. To her, the rugged landscapes, northern lights and epic Geysers definitely ticks the box of an adventure. She has shown me that adventure doesn’t have to be a miserable human-powered journey through rough terrain in remote places. Adventure means different things to different people. You don’t have to live to other peoples standards and definitions. If a trip to Iceland sounds like then adventure you would enjoy, so be it.

There will always be that motivation for me to complete the more challenging adventures but not everybody has to have that motivation.

On second thoughts, Iceland does look pretty adventurous.

Don’t quit your job to follow the crowd. Do it if it is right for YOU!

I’ve mentioned it before but I hate it when other adventurers and travellers peddle the advice for people to quit their jobs and travel the world. That advice can lead to many people thinking that it is the only option.

It isn’t. It is one option of many.

My advice to those with a full-time job that hate it is to try and find your purpose. Without purpose, any work you do will lack meaning. I recently listened to an interview that Tim Ferriss did with Richard Branson and this quote from Richard stuck with me:

Go and live your life in your own way. Full-time job or travelling nomad, happiness isn’t found in either of these roles. It is something much deeper. It’s a combination of plenty of things. Family, friends, purpose.

There’s nothing wrong with being unhappy at times. Most of my fondest memories are when I was cold, wet and miserable with the army or on an expedition. Without being occasionally unhappy, how will you know how happiness feels?

Having a full time job does not mean that you can’t live a life of adventure. If anything, it makes the adventures even more worthwhile. They become an escape from normal, day to day life.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive the occasional update with adventure ideas and other travel tips, subscribe below.

If you live in the UK the chances are that you live in a house with a secure door, walls and windows. Some people even have security cameras, guard dogs and alarms in the event of a stranger intruding on our personal space. Now imagine taking all of that away, walking to the top of a big hill, finding a river or settling in a small wood, unpacking your rucksack and getting into your sleeping bag to settle for the night. No walls to protect us. Free to feel the wind on your face and wake up to the sun as it rises.

For some people, this sounds like heaven. Escaping the confines of our normal home and connecting with nature. Being free. Others may find the prospect of letting go of security and safety too much to even consider.

It is completely rational to have some fears when considering wild camping for the first time. Especially if you have spent your entire life being protected by the bubble of your home. We are designed as humans to be alert when sleeping outside. Our ancestors before us had predators and rival tribes to contend with. Luckily, things have changed.

Face the fear head on

I wholeheartedly believe that the world is not a scary place. 24 hour news makes us feel like the world is more dangerous now than ever before but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When starting out to wild camp for the first time, head to somewhere you know and feel comfortable with. It can be a local park or woods or even the farmer’s field down the road. If you are unsure what to take or how to pick a spot, check out my guide to wild camping. You could try and convince a friend to come along or join a local community with fellow adventure seekers.

If you are in the UK, particularly near London, the YesTribe is a great way to meet others and head out on wild-camps. After years of spending most of my nights under the stars on expeditions or military exercises, the YesTribe gave me the opportunity to spend a night wild camping with like-minded strangers that were future friends in waiting.

Feel the fear and do it anyway

The best way to face your fear of wild camping is to get out there and do it. You can adjust the level of comfort on your own individual needs. I often sleep with just a bivvy bag. It’s light, waterproof and nothing beats falling asleep facing the stars. If you feel that you need a tent, go for it. It’s better than not spending time outside at all. There are no hard rules in place. Wild camping is effectively just sleeping outside. It sounds really simple when you put it like that.

What if I get caught?

I’ve spent countless nights sleeping under the stars on random bits of land in the UK and across the world. Occasionally I have been rumbled or disturbed by people and even the occasional animal. At first, this can be scary but after a few encounters, the fear disappears. Animals will generally want to leave you alone. In the UK, your biggest worry is probably the occasional hedgehog. When wild camping in other parts of the world, you have different worries. When I’ve been on military exercises to Kenya, my Platoon had hyenas, snakes and lions to contend with. After experiencing that, sleeping in a wood in the Costwolds sounds like a walk in the park.

When I’ve been rumbled by a person whilst wild camping, my tactic is to be friendly and open. Don’t try to hide or do anything silly. I keep my torch close by and if somebody comes along, I find putting the light on and being friendly is the best way to be welcomed.

To avoid being rumbled, try to pick a spot out of sight of buildings and urban areas. I’ve only ever been rumbled when I’ve slept near towns and cities.

I feel it is our inherent right as humans to be able to sleep on wild land. Where reasonably possible, get the permission of the landowners but as long as you leave no trace and sleep away from buildings, you will be fine.

Remember, the noises you hear are just the local residents

You will hear squeaks, hoots, toots, clicks and other strange noises when wild camping (hopefully not lions roaring unless you are sleeping near Longleat). The vast majority of these noises are made by the local residents. Wild animals often come alive at night, especially vocally. These animals couldn’t care one bit about you. If your fear gets too much you have a few options.

Earplugs – Block out the noise for a great night. I wished I’d brought a pair with me in Nepal when the wild dogs were howling all night.

Over the last month or so, I have been planning the launch a new project. My aim to do something that pushes me out of my comfort zone, something that will be fun and hopefully be of benefit for others. Here is the official announcement of that project.

In November, I am planning to launch the Adventure with Adam Podcast.

I am an avid listener of podcasts. Long-form audio travels brilliantly and is something I listen to when I am on a run, commuting to work, on a dog walk or generally whilst I am doing something else that doesn’t require my full attention. I find immense value from many of the podcasts I listen to and hope to bring that to my future audience.

My show will be a series of interviews with people that live a life of adventure. People that avoid the 9-5 routine in pursuit of wilderness, travel and a challenging lifestyle.

I will be stepping out of my comfort zone as I have never formally conducted interviews with anybody. Especially not ones that are to be recorded and hopefully enjoyed by others.

The only interviews I’ve conducted are to employ people (I did this a few times whilst working in the British Embassy in Cairo) and whenever I’ve had to deal with a soldier that is in trouble. Like most of the things I do, I am throwing myself into this quickly. It will be a steep learning curve for sure but I’m excited. So far I have three people lined up to be on the show. These initial three have a wide variety of experience and perspective. I can’t wait to get into it and put the recordings out there for the world to see.

If you want to be first in line to recieve the link to the podcast when it goes live, subscribe to my email list below.